Box Score - South Alabama 3, UL Monroe 0 (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team won its fourth-straight home match with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18) Sun Belt Conference victory over UL Monroe on Saturday night at Jag Gym.
"We talked before the match about playing at our full potential for the whole set, every night and not just being happy with just doing it for one night," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "When we play at our best, we can compete with anyone in this conference. In order to take that next step as a program, we needed to play that way for the whole match tonight. Last night, we played to our potential for three out of the four sets, so it was important for us to do that in all three sets. I was proud of our team for responding to that challenge tonight."
USA (10-8, 4-3 SBC) will now travel to Arkansas for a pair of matches, beginning with Arkansas State on Friday night. First serve versus the Red Wolves is set for 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Live stats and web streaming for the match can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @USA_Jags_VB.
Mechell Daniel recorded a .424 hitting percentage with a match-high 15 kills on 33 attacks and just one error. Redshirt middle blocker Nikki Gittens was also outstanding offensively for the Jaguars in the victory as she had 10 kills on 16 attacks without an error for a season-best .625 hitting percentage. Gittens also posted four block assists in the win.
"Nikki was unstoppable for us tonight," Hendrichovsky noted. "We felt that her play could be something that we could use to our advantage coming into the match if we could connect with her. She has worked hard on developing chemistry with both of our setters Emma (Anderson) and Parker (Harrell), because she can be unstoppable when we are able to deliver the ball and pass as well as we did tonight."
As a team, USA finished with 18 block assists. Sara Richardson led the club with five, while Emma Anderson also added four to go along with her 33 assists and 11 digs, marking her sixth double-double of the season.
Savannah Stewart ended the night with 13 digs, while Emily Hundt chipped in with 11.
One key stat of the match was behind the service line as South Alabama held a 5-2 advantage. The Warhawks entered play this week leading the Sun Belt and ranked top 10 nationally in aces, averaging 1.90 per set.
"We have a very solid passing core and three of them are upperclassmen," Hendrichovsky said. "Emily (Hundt) has really stepped up for us in the libero role. Even though she hasn't been passing much for us on serves, she is a senior and very solid back there. Arissa (Chappell) is a very confident passer as well, so I'm very happy with our core of passers. We also have other players on the bench who can also come in and do it on a nightly basis, which helps. This year we have a lot of depth in that position."
The loss for UL Monroe (11-10, 2-5 SBC) was its fifth-straight. Hadley Swartz led the team with nine kills, while Hope Pawlik chipped in with seven kills of her own. Defensively, Tara Jenkins led the way with 13 digs and Taylor Zaeske added 11.
The match marked the second-straight and third overall that USA has held an opponent under a .100 hitting percentage. ULM finished with 29 kills, 23 errors and 107 attacks for a .056 hitting percentage. South Alabama just missed tying a season-high in that category as the Jaguars posted a .333 percentage (41-9-96).
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, UL MONROE 15The Jaguars got off to a strong start, pushing across seven of the first 10 points of the match. USA used a balanced offensive attack during the run as four different players recorded a kill. South Alabama also had a pair of block assists and Emma Anderson dropped in one of USA's three aces in the frame.
Later in the set, South Alabama used a 7-1 run to break things open. Kolby Meeks – who had seven kills in the match – began the scoring with one of her three first-set kills and Daniel then capped off the run and gave USA a 15-6 lead with a putaway of her own. Anderson and Gittens also have a pair of block assists during that span.
The Jag lead reached double figures at 18-7 after kills by Daniel and Sara Richardson. USA would go on to lead by as much as 12 on multiple occasions before going on to take the 25-15. Gittens sealed the 10-point victory to give the Jags the early lead in the match.
South Alabama posted a .478 hitting percentage during the opening set, recording 14 kills on 23 attacks and committing just two errors. The .478 hitting percentage was the highest in a set, eclipsing the previous mark of .429 recorded in the second set versus Alabama State on Sept. 22.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, UL MONROE 15Like the opening set, South Alabama jumped out to another 7-3 advantage early on in the second set. ULM though would push across three straight points to narrow the deficit to one where it would remain for the next several points.
With USA holding a 10-9 advantage, the Jaguars rattled off six unanswered points to take control of the set. Gittens had a kill and Savannah Stewart recorded the Jaguars' fourth aces of the match during the run. ULM also committed three attack errors and a serving error during that stretch.
The Jags kept building momentum and extended their lead out to double figures later in the set. Daniel blasted one of her six kills in the set to begin a three-point spurt. Meeks then teamed up with Richardson on a block and followed that with a kill of her own to increase the Jag advantage to 21-11.
South Alabama would go on to take the set, 25-15 following Gittens' fifth kill of the second set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, UL MONROE 18Coming out of the intermission holding a 2-0 lead in the match, the Jaguars raced out to a five-point advantage (8-3), but ULM would chip away at the deficit. The Warhawks pulled within one (10-9) on an ace by Bayleigh Hoffman, which was UL Monroe's first of the match.
After trading the next four points, South Alabama was able to gain some breathing room as it pushed across four-straight points. Following a ULM attack error, Daniel posted a pair of kills and teamed up with Richardson for a block to extend USA's lead out to 16-11.
The Warhawks hung around and narrowed the gap to 21-18 on a Zaeske ace, but USA had the answer and closed out the match with four-straight points. ULM bookended a pair of attack errors around a Daniel kill and an ace from Stewart to give the Jaguars the 25-18 victory and complete the sweep.
For the second consecutive set, Daniel led the club with six kills in the frame.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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